Tag: business

The right approach must be taken that takes into account the aims of your project and the branding of your company.

Simply getting a video is not enough. Having a film produced for your business is a big undertaking for you and for those that are producing it and it’s obvious to say that it’s important to get right. When it comes to video ‘getting it right’ covers many areas, from the planning stages and pre-production, the look and feel of the piece, where it’s being filmed and who will be in it through to editing and music choices. Of course, there are many more essential variables but I think you get the idea.

Before any real pre-production is undertaken there is one essential discussion that must take place – choosing the right style of promotional film. Those producing your films must consider what is being made and why. Who is the target audience? What branding do you already have in place? Is it part of a larger project? Do you want something traditional, stylised or out of the box?

At Wildwood Media when we embark on a video production for businesses we alway ask questions like these. We look at your company and it’s branding, how you’re already promoting yourself and try to get an understanding of who you are and who you want your video to talk to.

Remember a video is a window into your company and its products and services – you want to show them in the best light possible. Just getting an old video produced isn’t enough, it has to stand out and do what you want it to do.

Let me show you our first example, Mid Kent College asked us to produce for them their 2017 promotional film. The brief was to create a film that would target potential students and to hold their attention – to give them a feel of the college and what it has to offer. As a secondary target audience, the college also wanted the video to engage parents as well, giving them the trust that the college was the right choice. That’s two very different target audiences. So the plan was to make something that was fun and engaging, in a style that would grab the attention of the students but have something about it that would let the parents enjoy it also.

The opening was the key, once that plays and we have everyone’s attention then the pace and style is set and the audience can enjoy the film while taking in all the information on offer – and there’s a lot of information in that film!

How do you know what the right approach is?

That’s where a video production company like Wildwood Media come in. We’re experts in video and offer over 20 years of industry experience. With our vast network of creatives on top of in-house talent, we’re able to offer varying creative approaches and styles.

It all starts with communication (something we strongly believe in), talking about what you want and what we can do to facilitate that. It’s about creating the right expectations for the myriad of budget areas and finding what works for the company on every level.

Our various approaches have included game shows, narrative films, silent adverts (for banners and social media content), traditional corporate films, epic productions and small personal business videos. It’s not a one size fits all solution.

The next film is a narrative approach to a corporate video. This video was produced for KMPT NHS. The brief was to show a patient’s journey through the mental health services of the NHS in Kent. An idea for this video that could work very well is interviews with staff and patients about facilities and services, but one problem is that a lot of people don’t like to be identified when talking about their mental health. Getting to know people through their journey was important and we felt a great way to do this would be a narrative approach. We wrote the script with staff from the NHS, cast the roles with great actors and chose the style (including music) of the narrative approach in a way that would be an honest represntation but utilise fully the emotional and storytelling advantages that narrative films allow.

I just want a traditional corporate film!

Please don’t think this post is throwing away with the idea of traditional corporate video aesthetics (interviews and cutaway shots), most of our videos fall within this approach. Indeed the Mid Kent College video above is a traditional approach, we just looked at making it as fun and as stand-out as possible.

The point of this blog post isn’t to push you into getting a crazy corporate made or being concerned about all the choices. It’s to say that whoever you get to produce your film, make sure they’re taking into account the work you do, the business as a whole and the aims and objectives of your video. Do not go with a one size fits all model or a package deal – every video has different needs and therefore they will all have varying costs.

This next video is a traditional corporate video but it’s the approach to it, the style, that makes it the correct vision for the client. The company is Kent Prestige Cars, a family run, luxury chauffeuring company. They wanted the luxury and attention to detail they pay to the clients to stand out, a focus on the cars and the features they offer (all top of the line models) but also to give a look at the owner, to offer a look beyond the cars. So we went with the MD in an interview situation to relay the required information while we backed it up and added the creativity through carefully planned shots including aerial filming.

There’s so much to consider for your film – do you need graphics or motion graphics, animation, aerial filming, what particular style, a voice over or interview, what length, do you require social media videos… the list goes on. We’re here to help you, to guide you through these decisions and end up with a film that’s not only what you want, but goes beyond your expectations.

I’ll leave you with a few further examples below.

If you ever wish to discuss a project, even if it’s just early discussions around ideas to see what’s possible, then please don’t hesitate to contact us. You can contact the office on 01622 200567 or contact@wildwoodmedia.co.uk

The below two videos are excerpts from another NHS video, these short pieces show how we can use motion graphics and animation. The first video uses motion graphics to highlight certain key phrases in the interview – this helps make them more memorable but also makes the video more engaging.

The second piece from the same NHS film is for an animated sequence. Animation can really help your video stand out and also offers a way to show situations, products or services that might be hard to film. This can vary depending on your needs from a full on animation to a white board video or a simple yet affective animated explainer like below.

We also produce video content for social media. We all know the advantages of Twitter, Facebook and Instagram (to name just three!) for connecting with people and raising the awareness of products and services – well we can create short videos to go on your timelines. Depending on your requirements it can be cost effective to get these done either in bulk or as part of a large production. This is what was done with the below two examples. When we produced our film for Kent Prestige Cars we were also tasked with producing three videos for social media that highlighted certain services and vehicle features that were not to be featured in the main film.

There are endless approaches, but one other style that I’d like to show is that of a promo to music – with no voice over or interviews. When it’s done right (the correct music is essential) then it can create an easily watchable video that gets across key information in a really fun way. The below video is one we produced for Vanity Fair, they wanted a document of an event they held that would give the sense of occasion and style that the event had.

I’d love to keep showing you work but I’m hoping you’ll get the idea that there is no one size fits all. Get the right video for you and your business.

I look forward to hopefully being able to discuss future projects with you.

I’ve been meaning to do a blog for sometime now but I’m glad to say things have been too busy. But I’ve penciled in the time with the belief that once the ball starts rolling… it won’t stop! So keep an eye out for an increase in blog and social media activity from us. We’ve been active on Twitter for some time (@Wildwood_Media) and we’ll be doing more soon.

So who am I?

I’m Chris, the Managing Director here at Wildwood Media, I love working with other companies and organisations to help produce effective videos. Since starting my company I’ve had the pleasure of working with a variety of amazing people and we always want to add to the list. I don’t want this blog to simply be a sales pitch all the time so I’m hoping to not only shout about the work we do but the work of people we love including our clients and also some random musings! I’m an avid film fan so sometimes if it’s not right to spill the beans on what we’re working on (we do a lot of internal communication videos for clients) then I’m sure I can find some great movie info or fun to share. You never know I might even let other Wildwood team members get on here… but one step at a time…